Please tell me about the awesome things you do with your DC

[nightandthelight]

Am struggling with my four month DS at the mo, just coming out of the sleep regression but not quite there yet and teething has started so sleep is fractured and he is grumpy.

I knew I would struggle with the baby stage from the beginning as I wanted a child not a baby. I want to be able to do fun things as a family. Obviously I know this will come and no doubt sooner than I imagine but could really do with a reminder of some of the great things that are to come :)

I've got 3 dc none of them especially difficult as such but as a tag team they wear me out on a daily basis. If by the end of the day they are all clean and fed then I count that as pretty awesome.

I know what you mean night, I found the first 6 months of having DTs really hard, but there are really wonderful times to come! I also found they became 'children' rather than babies much sooner than I expected. My DDs are 4 now and we have a lot of fun! Just back from a long weekend in Cornwall with fantastic weather and they were such a joy. We spent lots of time playing in the waves, digging holes, playing frisbee with the dog and eating ice cream, it was brilliant! On a more day-to-day basis they are so much fun too, they say some hilarious things and ordinary activities like baking etc are great with them around.

I'm sure you're doing a brilliant job, so don't wish it away, but you have many many years of fun to come too!

Thanks Elodie your post has really made me smile, sounds like you have had an amazing weekend :) Several people have said six months sees a big improvement so just two months to power through. Am doing my best to enjoy this time, there are some amazing moments like yesterday when he learnt how to blow raspberries :)

uhoh that reminds me of something I read on here, 'all fed, none dead'

Oh bless you I distinctly remember 4 months being a really hard time. Am about to get a reminder as dc2 is 2 months now!

To answer your question though, you're right children are more fun than babies in many ways! My DS is nearly four and, though he wears me out day to day, he's hilarious now with great comic timing and funny expressions.

We can have fun days out and he's full of joy and energy - and now that he doesn't need a nap anymore and us potty trained it's so much easier to be spontaneous again. Recently spent a sunny Saturday at a nearby farm/ park place and he went on the roller coaster about ten times and hasn't stopped talking about it since!

I think if they came as 2yr olds, I'd have had 12!
I never wanted nor enjoyed having babies. I loved mine as toddlers and IMO, they just get better with age. My 14&11yr olds are just a joy and you can do so much together such as city breaks etc I know that's a while off for you but just something else to look forward to!

I understand, mine is nearly 6 months and sleep has just got a little worse than it already had been. I always think tomorrow we will do singing group, swimming, rolling on the grass in the park etc etc. Then morning comes and I just want to get through the day with some sort of lunch and a few minutes of quiet play on the floor. I have yet to go singing or swimming. We do get some walks in now the weather is nice and he likes a look around. It is all going very quickly though and I'll probably miss these days when we're chasing a wayward toddler while trying to get ready to go out.

Can you do baby massage or a baby peep course at your local children's centre? I enjoyed doing these with my first and plan to with my second too.

Babies are seriously boring. I would divide up the day into chunks and get through it. My 4 year old and I just spent a weekend in Paris (DH was away on work) and we had an awesome time. Better than any romantic mate. Full of funny chatter, much more tolerant of my idiosyncrasies etc. I survived the baby stage by going back to work at 6 months. Then when he turned 18m and became more of a person I cut back to 4 days a week!

There are loads of lovely things we do, but I'm trying to think of something we did when DS was really little - so you don't need to wait!

One thing he loved from when he was tiny; we had a big foil emergency blanket and I'd sit under it with him on my knee. (They're about three quid for five on Amazon.) I'd scrunch it up first so that it was really creased and then I'd switch on the flashlight bit of my phone. We'd be under there for hours on mumsnet with him enjoying the light show and crinkly noises.

The gurgles of excitement have stayed with me.

One word though, start slow. It's a lot of sensory information at first so it's best to slowly take the blanket out of the bag a bit at a time and let your LO get used to it a bit first.

Babies are incrediby unrewarding, boring hard work in my opinion, but they grow into wonderful little people with personalities.

DTs are 4.5 and we have justhad a fab weekend away with them for bank holiday that was genuinely fun, we all stayed in a family room, and they could stay up untl 9pm without me being terrfied of breaking the routine and having a sleep disaster on our hands for the next few weeks.

I didn't really go out for the first 9 months, I wasn't a fan of all the groups and things. Between naps and eating I'm not sure we did much! I felt a bit of a fraud like I wasn't really a mum and everyone else was doing much more.

Once she was walking though that all changed, we started doing tumble tots, we went out everyday for a walk. Feeding ducks, local farm, puddle jumping (best investment was waterproof trousers), zoo's and museums. The wildlife trust and national trust do toddler things. We do lots of fairy hunting (small sparkly sweets appear in the trees as gifts from the fairies), gardening, cooking, drawing, painting.

I wouldn't worry about doing things with the baby, as long as they are hugged, fed, clean and get their snoozes i don't think they need much more at this point.

Sympathies here OP, I struggle with the baby bit too. Just about to have dc3, my other two are 4 and 2 and are brilliant.

It's raining today but they've been out in the garden in coats and wellies but naked otherwise (4 year old didn't want to get her jeans wet, 2 year old copies everything 4 year old does). If I could trade in the baby for an 18month old, I wouldn't hesitate!!

For me they get easier when they can walk and talk (somewhere between 1 and 2 generally) so have a bit of independence. They also eat with less mess and need fewer changes of clothes every day so the endless wiping and washing tails off a bit.

They make me laugh every day, it's well worth it. Especially if you can nail the sleeping!!

They definitely get lots more fun as they get older. You all getting more sleep helps too. I love spending time with my almost three year old. He comes out with so many funny things now. I think it won't be long until you get fun stuff though. I quite enjoyed weaning as like cooking so making up random purees and meal ideas was fun for me. The first words and seeing them walk is also good fun. It becomes a lot more interactive and you see personality soon. You get to enjoy so many first times like first ice cream, first time playing on a beach, feeding animals at petting zoos, going on rides etc. It's great

The baby stage will go quicker than you think... Enjoy the things that you enjoy or did pre-children as much as you can, with the baby in tow instead. Once you're geared towards activities children enjoy, opportunities to wander around shops/garden centre or long walks, coffee or meals out etc. become precious and are still 'doable' with a baby

Hi night < waves from Feb thread from ages ago >

DS2 is the same age. DS1 is 21mo so I have no choice but to get out and go to the bastarding park every morning. I can't do groups with the two of them yet.

I find once I'm out I'm glad, and it makes the day go by much more quickly.

I didn't really do this with either of my other two, I generally just hibernated for about 6 or 7 months.

If only I'd known about MNing under a foil blanket!

I found the first bit really horrible but the sun came out for me at about 9 months and I now have an 18 month old who I love spending time with.

We go out for coffee and to the park and he likes just wandering about the garden with his watering can. It's great!

I hated the baby stage but once they get older its awesome, we have been to an adventure park and the beach this week and watched harry potter for the first time, we also learned how to throw a boomerang properly. Ds is awesome now I love being with him one of my favourite things is just chilling at home with him just the 2 of us we don't even have to be doing anything I can be tidying and he's playing with toys but its lovely to just be together.

I'm expecting ds2 in Aug dreading the baby bit again but this time I'm going to try to enjoy it I did wish ds's babyhood away in afraid

Thanks everyone, reassuring to know I'm not alone in not being a big fan of the baby stage. There are aspects of it I love such as his firsts and watching him learn new skills. I think the main issue is sleep, I spend my evenings in fear of what sleep is going to be like as it is so unpredictable.

I do waterbabies and a class including massage, yoga, sensory etc and regularly meet other mums for coffee so we are doing something most days which really helps.

So excited for when he is fully interactive after everything you have all said :)

Waves at maisiedotes, how are you doing?

Oh god I used to have those miserable bloody evenings worrying about the night to come. It's grim but it gets soooo much better honestly. Hang in there!

DS is almost 9 and DD is 7 we have a fantastic time together. DD loves to go out and we have girly days together. Yesterday I spent the day with DS going for a run and going to the cinema.

My only concern is that they are getting older! I want them to stay this age forever

Going to be reading this thread over and over today after an awful night, this will get better.

I remember being in DS' bedroom at 4am after no sleep with him arsing about in his cot refusing to sleep. I was planning a holiday to Jersey for when he was bigger! Made me feel a bit better!

As a practical tip, once DS was about 10 months and was eating a decent dinner, DH did all wakings until midnight and I went to bed at 7 some nights! Made me feel a lot more human and took away the bedtime dread. If yours takes a bottle you could have that sort of arrangement sooner.

The other thing is that it got ok sooner than I was expecting. Once they're walking it all gets easier I think. You can tire them out for a start!

Sorry if I'm going on and on you just sound exactly how I felt a year ago and I just really can't believe how much it's all turned around suddenly.

I found first 3 months solid hard work, between then and 6 months things did start to get better. By 6 months I was enjoying ds! I would recommend seeing other friends as you don't really need to do anything for dc as babies just your sanity. My ds is now nearly 2 and is lots of fun- loves being outside, playing with cars and reading stories. I'm due in 3 months and hoping he will help distract me from those first few months of sleep deprivation with a new born!

Going to try the midnight thing tonight splendide, planning to go to bed as soon as DS is asleep. It's good to know you were in this position but things improved quite quickly :)

DS is very demanding of my attention unfortunately ickle, by and large isn't happy entertaining himself. Starts crying if he has more than about five minutes without me actively entertaining him so my days are geared around that and his naps. When I try to have coffee with friends it turns into a complete meltdown :(

Hope you had a better night x